1. Technical Field
This invention relates generally to device verification, and more particularly, to a method wherein testing combinations are generated without repetition in such verification.
2. Background Art
In the verification of an Ethernet Network Controller, the data packet format for IPSec (Internet Protocol Security) processing typically includes three parts, i.e., the MAC (Media Access Control) header, IP (Internet Protocol) Datagram, and FCS (Frame Check Sequence). For the MAC header, typically, only six different combinations of packet format are involved and need to be tested. However, for the IP Datagram, in the case of the IPv6 header with IPv6 extension headers, several thousand different combinations are involved.
In such verification, a main strategy is the generation of random simulation vectors. In order to fulfill this strategy, a vector generation model is to generate random packet combinations. It will be understood that each simulation is to cover each and every legal packet class. It will also be noted that there are many legal packet classes which can traverse through the network.
However, with each packet being randomly generated, a packet for a particular packet class will be very likely be generated more than once before all legal packet classes are covered, resulting in the device being tested for the same packet class more than once, possibly several times. It will be understood that additional testing for that packet class (after the first test based on that packet class) is inefficient, unnecessary and time-consuming.
Therefore, what is needed is a method of avoiding repetition in the generation of combination values used in testing a device.